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RESEARCHJuly 10, 2009Nanopillars promise cheaper solarFill nanoscale holes in a piece of aluminum with high-quality semiconductor material and you have a route to efficient and inexpensive solar cells.Vertical cadmium telluride nanopillars made in an aluminum template and covered with a thin film of cadmium sulfide form a nanostructured thin-film solar cell. Three-dimensional nanostructured solar cells require less of the high-quality semiconductor material than thin-film solar cells, which means they could be less expensive to make. The vertical nanopillar structure also makes it possible to build solar cells in flexible materials. The nanopillars' vertical orientation means the cells can be made thick enough to absorb the most light without sacrificing electron harvesting efficiency. Today's thin-film solar cells are horizontally oriented and so require a trade-off: the thicker they are the more light they absorb but the thinner they are the more efficiently they collect electrons. The prototype cell is six percent efficient at converting light to electricity. Improvements like a better top electrode promise to boost the device's efficiency. Research paper: Three-dimensional nanopillar-array photovoltaics on low-cost and flexible substrates Nature Materials, published online July 5, 2009 Researchers' contact: Javey Research Group Related stories and briefs: Strained nanowires promise cheaper solar cells -- related research Coated nano mesh gets more out of light -- related research 3D solar cells catch rebounds -- related research Back to ERN home |
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